


In Spite of Help

by Woofemus



Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 01:44:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15109214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Woofemus/pseuds/Woofemus
Summary: Sayo and Tsugumi, plus the people helping them through their feelings. Not that they need it, or know they even need it.





	In Spite of Help

**Author's Note:**

> this was a shitpost that somehow accidentally looped back to being half-serious???? idk either

It’d been sheer chance that Ako noticed the way she did.

She’d just gotten off one of her tutoring sessions with Rinko. Tomoe had told her she was over at Tsugumi’s so Ako hurried on over, eager for some of Tsugumi’s cookies.

What she didn’t expect was finding Sayo there.

“Sayo-san—” and Ako slapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes widening when she realized Sayo wasn’t alone, and she was talking to _Tsugumi._ She ducked out of view instead, hiding behind a store sign. As carefully as she could, she peeked her head around.

“Thanks for coming by today!” she heard Tsugumi say.

“Of course. The coffee is delicious, as always.”

“Is it? I, um, I mean, it was me that made your coffee this time, not my mom and I was still practicing getting the pour over right, and the water wasn’t the right temperature, and the picture I tried to draw for your latte came out all weird—!”

“Hazawa-san,” Sayo quickly cut in, and—Ako was gaping, watching as Sayo easily reached over to put a hand on Tsugumi’s shoulder. “I enjoyed everything, please believe me. And… if it was already so good as your practice, I can only imagine how much better it’ll taste once you perfect your technique.” And Sayo, for as long as Ako had known her, who did things where _not_ doing something spoke as much as the rare times she praised them, was smiling.

Sayo, Ako’s bandmate who she’d saw with a frown on her face more times than it rained each day of the year, was _smiling._

Ako needed to tell Rinko! She took out her phone to go to her camera, and, as sneakily as she could, tried to snap a picture. Rinko wouldn’t believe her at all if she said this, she needed some hard evidence!

“S-Sayo-san!” Tsugumi was suddenly flustered, not that Ako was really paying attention, trying her hardest to get a picture.

Just as Ako readied her camera and focused in on Sayo and snapped a picture, Tsugumi looked over right at her in that same moment.

Ako whipped her camera away and looked up to see Tsugumi _was_ looking at her, more than surprised. She nervously smiled back. Tsugumi stared back at her for another second before her whole face burst into redness.

Sayo was immediately alarmed. “Hazawa-san! Are you fine?” She turned her head to follow Tsugumi’s eyes—

Ako hid back behind the sign and held her breath just as Tsugumi spoke, “Nothing! I mean, yes! It was, uh, just a little warm out here so, uh, um…”

“Ah, you should be heading back indoors then, I won’t hold you any longer.”

“Yeah! And, um, I’ll keep practicing and hope to meet your expectations!”

“I’m sure it’ll all be delicious.”

“Ah…”

Ako sneaked a chance to peek back around the sign at this point. Tsugumi looked surprised, like she wasn’t sure what to say. Ako knew exactly how that looked; Rinko often looked like that a lot too. But Sayo! She still had that smile on her face! It was so strange, like Ako was in some kind of dream and this Sayo got replaced by something out of her game like… like a mimic!

Finally, Tsugumi smiled back. “Then, um, I’ll see you next time, Sayo-san?”

“Yes, of course,” Sayo said and walked away.

Into Ako’s direction.

Ako nearly yelped, darting back to hide behind the sign. She was lucky she was small for it to cover her completely (her sister hit a growth spurt and she would soon too!), but she held her breath too just in case.

Sayo walked past without even looking in her direction. Ako let go of her breath. A close call! Dumping a few extra stat points into her luck the other day paid off—

“Ako-chan, what are you doing here?”

Just in time for Tsugumi to come over.

“Tsugu-chin! Hi!” Ako was about to get up but just in case, she checked to see if Sayo was still around. She wasn’t, so Ako shot up, grinning at Tsugumi. “Ako didn’t know you were friends with Sayo-san!”

“Friends?” Tsugumi laughed, but it sounded strange to Ako. “Um, yeah, I guess we are!”

“Huh? You’re not?”

“I mean, we are! I guess?” Tsugumi put a hand on her chin as she thought.

“You have to be! Why else would Sayo smile like that?”

Tsugumi gave her another strange look. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“Like, that!” Ako waved her hands around as she tried to explain. “I can count the number of times Sayo-san has smiled on one hand!” She held up her hand. “I mean, she usually does after a performance sometimes, but she’s always like—” and Ako schooled her features into her most serious expression she could make, “Udagawa-san, I caught you missing your cue near the end, please do better next time. But good work, everyone, let’s go to the family diner so I can steal Rinrin—I mean, Shirokane-san’s fries.”

Tsugumi giggled, and Ako laughed too. “That sounds like Sayo-san. The first part, I mean.”

“Yeah! That’s why it’s a big deal! Oh, right! I gotta send the picture to Rinrin.” Ako whipped out her phone and went through it.

“Hm? Picture?” Tsugumi asked.

“Yeah! Ako took a picture of Sayo-san earlier. She was smiling, and Ako wanted to send it over to Rinrin.”

“Oh! Do you… mind if I take a look?”

“Yeah!” Ako was bringing up the picture on her phone and she was going to hold it out for Tsugumi but Tsugumi came around to her instead. And there it was, the miraculous picture Ako managed to snap. It was blurrier than she liked, but there no mistaking Sayo with a smile on her face, and a cut off Tsugumi to the left of the picture.

“Ah… she’s ni—” Tsugumi coughed, “I mean, it’s nice.” Ako looked up, seeing Tsugumi staring at Sayo. A thought came to her, and she spoke aloud before thinking better of it.

“Tsugu-chin, do you like Sayo-san?”

Tsugumi jolted, blinked several times, and looked straight at Ako. “Huh?!” Tsugumi jolted, looking straight at Ako. “L-like? You, um, mean, like…”

“Like…” Ako looked at her strangely, slowly fitting the puzzles together. “Like… you know.” She vaguely waved her hands around. “ _Like…_ ”

“Like…” Tsugumi also followed her motions, but Ako noticed her face was getting red.

“Um…” Ako tried to think about it a bit more. “Like, you wanna take them out for fun and you wanna talk more to them and, uh, um, you kind of get this tight feeling in your… chest? Or… something. And you wanna see them all the time? Yeah! Sounds right!” Ako frowned at her, thinking more to herself. “You know that doesn’t sound very nice now that Ako thinks about it…”

“... Ako-chan, where are you learning these things?”

“The manga Hi-chan lets me borrow!”

“What kind of manga—wait, no, I think I already know.” Tsugumi shook her head with a sigh. “You’re thinking too much, Ako-chan. Sayo-chan doesn’t like me like that anyway.”

Ako didn’t miss the way Tsugumi didn’t mention herself. “So that means Tsugu-chin does?”

Tsugumi sputtered, not meeting Ako’s eyes. “Uh. Um.”

Ako grinned. Tsugumi quickly turned away from her, but Ako caught the tips of Tsugumi’s ears turning bright red. Nothing could escape the demonic strength granted to her of Ako’s amazing eyes! And, Tsugumi always reacted so strongly without meaning to. Ako knew Tsugumi almost just as well as her sister did!

“I-I, um, need to go back into the cafe now! I’ll see you later, Ako-chan.” She took a step before turning around. “And, um, don’t tell Sayo-chan!” she rushed out before quickly turning back around and walking away again.

“Oh! Uh, okay! Bye, Tsugu-chin—wait, I’m going inside the cafe too! Tsugu-chin! Wait up for me! And what do you mean don’t tell—”

* * *

And that was when Ako decided. If Tsugumi wasn’t going to do anything, then it would be up for Sayo to!

… with Ako’s help!

Which, as Ako was discovering, was easier said than done.

Sayo focused a lot on her guitar. So much, that Ako wasn’t even sure if Sayo did anything else outside of playing her guitar. That was kind of boring. Maybe Sayo would enjoy it a lot if Ako introduced her to playing MMOs! She and Rinko needed a tank and—

No, no! Ako was getting off track. But she understood Sayo’s passion, she was the same way too, when she got _really_ into her drums and wanted to practice the entire day away and become the best—no, the second best drummer in the world because no one could be better than her sister and—

… what was she thinking about again?

Oh!

Sayo.

And Tsugumi. Yes. Exactly.

Ako was here to lend her aid to a lost comrade! Or, bandmate. Sayo wouldn’t have appreciated being called a fellow minion of the Dark Lord, she wasn’t as _fun_ as Yukina was.

“Sayo-san, Sayo-san!”

Ako purposely stayed behind after their practice was done. Lisa had to rush out because her part time job was starting, and Yukina followed after her shortly after. Rinko waited around for her, but Ako messaged her that she needed to talk to Sayo alone and she’d spill all the juicy details afterward.

 _”Please don’t be too reckless,”_ Rinko had messaged back. Okay, that was weird, Ako didn’t understand. All she was going to do was talk to Sayo! What did Rinko mean by being _reckless?_

“Udagawa-san? DId you need something?” Sayo asked, and nearly reeled back when Ako looked up at her with a strangely determined expression. Then—

“What do you think about Tsugu-chin?” Ako blurted out.

“... Hazawa-san?” Sayo looked at her strangely. “What about her? What brought this up?” Her look turned suspicious. “Was it any of the Afterglow members? Are they trying to find out something—”

“No, no!” Ako quickly shook her head and waved her hands around. “Ako saw you at Tsugu-chin’s place and was wondering when you got to be good friends with Tsugu-chin! Tsugu-chin’s nice! Like, if you asked her to be your friend, she’d do it because she’s so nice!”

“... ah.” Sayo slowly nodded though Ako could still feel her suspicion. Ako would need to tread carefully now, just like all those _boring_ stealth missions that always took her ten tries to complete. “Yes, Hazawa-san is very kind.”

“Right?! She always gives Ako some extra cookies!”

“... that is nice of her. Anyway. Why do you suddenly want to know?”

This was it. She and Rinko had talked about this (or well, Ako ran through her plan while Rinko listened and made adjustments) and she was _prepared._ Sayo would be a hard boss to beat, but Ako had held out her own against tougher enemies before! Not that Sayo _wasn’t_ hard, but this was a different type of mode than Ako was used to.

Okay. This was it. She had Sayo’s full attention on her, which was actually a little unnerving and Ako was so used to being scolded for something she did wrong and maybe this wasn’t that great of an idea anymore and Tsugu-chin was going to have to learn how to confess herself instead and Ako was just going to—

“Do you like her?” she blurted out instead.

Several very long seconds of the heaviest silence Ako had ever felt in her life passed by. Somehow.

Sayo blinked at her. “I’m… sorry? What are you asking?”

Ako was about to repeat her question again, except what came out instead was, “You have to ask her to be your number one!”

Sayo’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Udagawa-san, what are you even talking about now—”

“Number one!” Ako said, flinging her arm out, except Sayo was closer than she thought and she was lucky that Sayo managed to recoil backward in time to avoid being punched in the chin. But now, Sayo was glaring at her. Ako tried not to feel the sweat rolling down her face.

“Udagawa-san, what are you—what does that even mean?”

“Like, number one!” Ako pointed a finger out. “Number one! Number one! Number one is only one—”

“ _Yes_ I got it,” Sayo interrupted before Ako could continue her ridiculous chant. “But I don’t believe you know what you’re saying yourself, Udagawa-san.”

“Of course I do!” Ako crossed her arms with a smirk. Oh, she was going to show Sayo that she wasn’t all full of hot air, that she knew _exactly_ what she was talking about. Sayo crossed her arms, and waited patiently. Or, impatiently. Ako was going to _wow_ her!

… how did Rinko explain this to her again?

“Uh.” Ako tried to go through what she and Rinko had talked about. It… it meant… it meant...

“... maybe you’re supposed to tell her that you want her to be your number two instead?” Ako was trying to remember, but both number one _and_ number two sounded perfectly fine in her mind. Like, if Ako was a demon general, that meant she was number one, and asking someone else to be number two would be like her right hand lieutenant! That was still a _cool_ title!

Wait… unless… asking someone to be their number one meant giving _them_ the number one spot? So was it better for Sayo to say she wanted to be someone’s number two? Yeah, maybe that was it! Ako knew numbers were involved for a reason!

As Ako silently pondered the wonder of numbers, Sayo continued to stand there, bemused, but mostly annoyed. She could see Ako trying to add the numbers in her head.

Sayo also remembered Ako wasn’t very good at math.

“... Udagawa-san, please don’t waste my time like this. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll have to head home,” Sayo said. Ako snapped back to reality, just to see Sayo head right out the door.

“Whoa! How is she so fast?! Maybe she’d be better as an assassin class instead—Sayo-san!”

* * *

“Shirokane-san.”

Rinko startled upright at the sound of her name before realizing a shadow loomed over her. When she looked up, Sayo stood over her with her arms crossed, unamused. Rinko shrank back.

What… what did Sayo want with her? Maybe she had something to talk about from the last practice? Rinko knew she messed up a bit near the chorus, but she went home to practice it! But, maybe Sayo wanted to point out something else that she hadn’t noticed? Oh, no… what could it be—

“Do you know anything about what Udagawa-san and Imai-san are doing?”

“... eh?” Rinko blinked, not expecting _that_ instead. Sayo let out a sigh and took the seat next to her on the bench. “Um, Ako-chan, and, er, _Imai-san?_ ”

“Yes.” Sayo began to mutter. “They’ve been bothering me about… _things_.” She didn’t bother elaborating, but Rinko didn’t need to guess. Actually, what she was more surprised about was that Lisa was involved. Ako didn’t tell her Lisa was doing the same thing. Unless Lisa was bothering Sayo separately outside of… whatever it was Ako was doing.

“Oh.” She averted her eyes, hoping the embarrassed blush on her face wasn’t giving her away.

_”Operation Make Sayo-san Realize Her Feelings!” Ako put down a piece of paper on the table that said exactly that. Other than that, though, it was completely blank underneath._

_“... um, why do you have to do that, Ako-chan? Isn’t it better for Hikawa-san to, er, notice herself?” Rinko wasn’t sure how to feel about… meddling in the private lives of her bandmates. Again._

_“Sayo-san? Notice her feelings? Rinrin, you do know who we’re talking about here? This is Sayo-san! She wouldn’t know what a crush was unless it went and beat her over the head! Unless Tsugu-chin dressed up as a guitar!”_

_Ako suddenly went quiet. Rinko could see the exact moment of realization dawn across her face._

_“Hey, Rinrin, do you think you could make a guitar costume?”_

_“... not really, and I don’t think that would be a good idea too, Ako-chan.”_

_Ako pouted, unhappy that her very brilliant idea was already squashed. “R-right! Anyway!” But Ako was never one to be deterred so quickly, her usual energy already returning. “I’ve got another idea then. How’s this, maybe if I went and drew a heart on my drumsticks and threw them at Sayo-san—”_

_“Ako-chan... if you do that, I won’t have anyone else to play games with …”_

_“—but wait I need to get that cape you made for me first because I have to look cool while doing it, and then I’d toss it at her head like ‘Fly! Burning Arrow of—huh? Did you say something else, Rinrin?”_

_“N-nothing!”_

“—so do you know anything, Shirokane-san?”

“Eep!”

“... Shirokane-san?” Sayo was looking at her strangely. “Is something the matter?”

“I! Um! No!”

Sayo squinted at her. Rinko pretended she didn’t notice. Which was easy, all she had to do was just… not… look at Sayo.

“... alright, then. If you don’t want to say anything, I understand. But can you please tell Udagawa-san to stop with… whatever it is she’s trying to do?”

“A-ah, Ako-chan is… um…” Rinko slowly nodded. “Okay, I’ll, um, be sure to tell her.”

“Thank you, Shirokane-san. I’ll see you later at practice then.” Sayo got up, dusted herself, and began to walk away.

Until Rinko opened her mouth again.

“Ah! Um, wait! Hikawa-san, er…”

Sayo looked down at her. “Yes? What is it?”

“A-actually, I, um… if… if you don’t mind, can… can I ask you a question?”

Sayo watched her for a few seconds, but those seconds felt like they stretched into minutes under her stare. Rinko quickly looked away again, trying not to fidget under Sayo’s intense gaze, so she didn’t see when Sayo finally nodded. “Of course. What is it?”

Rinko didn’t even know what she was asking this, but. There was… this…

This was also for Ako’s sake!

Because Rinko wasn’t actually sure how annoyed Sayo was and didn’t want Sayo’s last button to be pushed and _terrible_ things would happen to Ako and then Roselia would have to be disbanded because Ako was—

… she was thinking too much about that.

In any case! Rinko gulped, and quietly let the words slip out of her mouth. “Just wondering, what do you think of… um, Hazawa-san?”

Sayo narrowed her eyes. “So you _do_ know what Udagawa-san and Imai-san are up to.”

“N-no! I mean, actually, I, um, I, er!” Rinko hung her head, nervously pressing her fingers together. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, um, ask. I m-mean, there must be a reason why Ako-chan and Imai-san are both—er, I mean, asking you a lot about her, right?”

Rinko expected Sayo to tell her that it was none of her business but instead, she heard Sayo taking the seat next to her again. When she chanced a peek at the girl next to her, Sayo was staring ahead of her, but she felt… thoughtful, contemplative.

“Hazawa-san is…”

And Rinko saw it, the way Sayo’s face softened for a single moment. She looked… really nice, so unlike the usual sternness Rinko had always come to expect from Sayo. Just as Rinko had learned like Ako, Sayo spoke more in the way she... tolerated things that would have normally bothered her.

That meant this was _serious._

“Do you remember when I made those cookies for practice?” Sayo asked suddenly.

“O-of course!” How could anyone forget that? How could anyone forget _Sayo_ making them cookies? They weren’t quite as good, or, well, perfected was the better word really, as Lisa’s, but still delicious. Sayo was someone who always put her all into her tasks no matter how frivolous or tedious, and Rinko could taste the effort in her cookies.

“It was Hazawa-san that taught me,” Sayo said. “She was… very kind, very patient, even when I was clueless about everything. She’s such a hard worker, and she’s very humble about it. She…” and Sayo made a face, like her face was pinched. “I would not mind spending more time with her, to learn more about her. But…”

Sayo trailed off. Rinko waited for her to continue, but she didn’t. Instead, Sayo was still staring ahead of her, a frown on her face now. T-troubled? Why was Sayo feeling troubled? Oh, no, maybe Rinko had made things worse by asking Sayo about her feelings. Or...

Rinko gulped again before she prompted, “... but?”

Sayo glanced over at her before looking away again. She… she seemed embarrassed, Rinko was surprised to find. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone else. I would like to learn more about her, but I also feel as if I… hm.” She sighed. “I’m sorry, I must not make very much sense. I certainly don’t, thinking about it.”

 _There!_ It was a perfect moment to talk, but Rinko waited several seconds just in case. She didn’t want to accidentally interrupt Sayo (or anything) when they weren’t finished with what they were talking about.

“Hikawa-san, you’re, um, saying all these wonderful things about Hazawa-san, and, uh, and you wish to spend some more time with her, away from everyone else. S-so… um, I think… I think it means…” and Rinko felt herself faltering, a nervous little knot forming inside of her.

She knew Ako and Lisa were trying to run circles around Sayo to get her to admit her feelings, but… the way Sayo seemed to not genuinely understand her feelings made her want to at least try to get Sayo, well, _understand_. But there was a difference between thinking about doing it, and _actually_ doing it.

Also, telling Sayo she liked someone was honestly not very high on the list of things Rinko thought she would have to do today. Or, well, _ever._

And yet, here she was.

Rinko glanced over at Sayo—and nearly flinched back when she realized Sayo was giving her her undivided attention. It was strange, being stared at so intently, and by _Sayo_ of all people. Sayo’s gaze was always so intense, and… and…

She quickly looked away, trying to calm herself down. What were they talking about again—Tsugumi! Sayo, and Tsugumi. That… that was what they were talking about. Okay. Rinko just had to get right back on topic.

“Maybe… maybe you actually _do_ like Hazawa-san, as, um, more than a friend?” Rinko pointed out before blushing. These things always made her embarrassed to say. Who would’ve thought she’d be helping out _Sayo_ with things like _feelings_?

Sayo narrowed her eyes into a glare and though Rinko knew it was just how Sayo normally got when she was thinking, it still made her start to regret saying what she just did. She started pulling on her fingers, a nervous habit, but knew that wasn’t very good to do in case she broke or twisted something (anything could happen!) so she smoothed her hands over the top of her thighs instead. Her hands balled the fabric of her skirt.

Maybe, just maybe, if she sat very, very, _very_ still, Sayo would think she fell asleep with her eyes open and leave her alone. Rinko somehow did it before, and if she remembered how she did it last time, maybe she could—

Finally, Sayo _did_ do something, and it was to close her eyes and sigh. It was a very tired sigh, like she realized something she didn’t want to. Rinko had done enough of those to know exactly what sort of sighs those sounded like.

“... you may be onto something, Shirokane-san,” Sayo said after another moment of silence.

In that moment, Rinko inexplicably felt like she just beat the final boss of a game after trying for five very long hours.

* * *

“Yo! Tsugu-chan!”

From seemingly out of nowhere was Hina, grinning and slapping her shoulder in a friendly way. Tsugumi winced, already feeling the strain on her arms from the boxes she held in her arms.

“A-ah! Hina-senpai, I didn’t, er, notice you,” Tsugumi said. That was hard actually, the way Hina seemed to sneak up on her. Hina was a lot like Sayo, with the… sort of magnetic way that seemed to attract eyes on them.

“Saw you from down the hall and thought I’d say hi! Hard at work there? You’re always running around for the student council, or doing something with your friends.” Hina laughed. “I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else busier than you, Tsugu-chan! Even onee-chan doesn’t have you beat, and she’s always working hard!”

Hina frowned at her suddenly. “Maybe Chisato-chan might be busier. I haven’t seen her for practice for a while! Hope she’s doing well!” The way Hina laughed afterward made Tsugumi feel a twinge of concern for Chisato.

“I hope she is too, Hina-senpai.” Tsugumi tried to smile but she was sure it came out like a grimace instead. She’d been holding the boxes for some time.

“Oh! Need some help with that? I can take one—”

“No, I’m alright! Thanks for asking though.” A genuine smile came to Tsugumi as she bowed her head. “S-sorry, but I really need to go now! Thank you for saying hi, Hina-senpai!”

“Yeah! No problem! I’ll see you later, Tsugu-chan!” Hina said with a wave.

As it turned out, when Tsugumi was helping out her family at the cafe, Hina did mean literally later.

“Welcome—oh! Hina-senpai, good afternoon again,” she greeted. From where she stood in the doorway, Hina grinned and waved furiously. Tsugumi gestured for her to take a seat at a nearby table while setting down a menu for her.

Hina had been coming around a lot more, Tsugumi was noticing. Before, it had been Hina walking Eve over and staying to hang out with her while they waited for Eve’s shift. Now, Hina was… coming even without Eve.

Weird, but that was fine. Tsugumi enjoyed Hina’s company, and although she was much different than anyone, even her friends, she liked making friends with different people. She’d met her fair share of interesting people but none quite like Hina. Sometimes, it was hard to believe she was Sayo’s sister.

They couldn’t be anymore different, especially when Hina grinned so easily and her eyes were always so sparkling with excitement. Sayo was so… quiet, and reserved, although Tsugumi knew that she was no less passionate or excited about things than Hina. It… only took longer for that side of Sayo to come out.

And, speaking of Sayo—

The door opened and Sayo came in, and she froze when she realized Hina was there.

“... Hina.” Sayo’s expression was mostly unreadable, but Tsugumi thought she seemed… annoyed. “You’re here again today.”

“Of course! Onee-chan’s favorite place is my favorite place too!”

Tsugumi wasn’t sure if she imagined it, but she thought Sayo’s face twitched.

“... hm.” Sayo sighed and turned to Tsugumi, gesturing at Hina’s table. “Is it fine if I sit with her?”

“H-huh?! Oh, um, yes, of course! Let me get a menu for you,” and Tsugumi rushed away to do just that.

“Thank you, Hazawa-san,” Sayo said with a small nod of her head, always as polite as she was. It definitely was a stark difference to Hina, who easily beamed with an almost reckless abandon that Sayo would never have.

Tsugumi wondered how it happened to be that such different people were siblings, much less twins. She was envious, wondering how that felt like, having not only a sibling, but also a twin! And, speaking of twins…

Tsugumi wondered if that thing about twin telepathy was true.

“—Hazawa-san?”

Tsugumi nearly jumped in place when she realized Sayo was calling her. “Y-yes! I, uh, er, I mean! Yes?!”

“I think you have a customer waiting for you.” Sayo pointed toward the door. Tsugumi slowly turned toward it, and realized there _was_ a customer waiting for her. Luckily, it was only another regular, an older woman who’d been coming for years for as long as Tsugumi could remembered, but it was still rude to keep her waiting!

“Sorry! Excuse me!” Tsugumi rushed away, trying to contain her embarrassment. What a mistake to make, right in front of both Hina and Sayo!

Luckily (or not, Tsugumi still wasn’t sure) the cafe began to fill up, and while Tsugumi had been rushing around taking care of things, someone else had taken Sayo and Hina’s orders. She would be the one to bring their orders to them, though.

Hina positively _sparkled_ at the slice of chiffon cake in front of her, while Sayo nodded approvingly as she took a sip of her latte.

Just as Tsugumi was about to go, Hina asked, “Tsugu-chan, do you bake these yourself?”

Tsugumi looked down at the cake. “These? Yes, we make them here in house!” She smiled proudly. “My mom makes them, isn’t she so good?”

“Yeah!” Hina agreed with an enthusiastic grin. “But I meant if _you_ made them.”

“Me? Er, sometimes? I mean, I help mix ingredients or I take them out in the oven, but it’s mostly my mom that does everything. I’m still learning!” She looked away, sheepish. “I’ve tried to make them by myself sometimes but I feel like they don’t turn out to be so delicious as my mom’s.”

“I wanna try!” Hina gestured over to Sayo with a grin. “And I know onee-chan wants to, too!”

Sayo sputtered. “Huh?! Hina, don’t, ah, don’t go deciding—”

“We’ll eat it up for you!”

Sayo slowly put a hand on forehead and sighed. “Don’t just go asking for free cakes,” she muttered.

And Tsugumi couldn’t help but laugh, watching them. “It’s okay, Sayo-san! I wouldn’t mind. Maybe… um… maybe next time, I’ll try again and give you some, Hina-senpai. O-oh, and of course, er, I’ll make extra so Sayo-san can have some too.”

“Yay!” Hina looked like she won some kind of prize. Sayo’s exasperated expression turned amused.

“You really don’t have to, but thank you, Hazawa-san,” she said. Tsugumi could feel the warmth creeping onto her cheeks so she quickly bowed her head and shuffled away to help another customer.

All this meant that Tsugumi _really_ needed to practice her baking now. She wondered if her friends would appreciate eating cake for a whole week.

… she knew Moca would, but it wasn’t like Moca _should._ There was a difference! And Himari would get upset because Moca would tease her about giving her all the calories while eating everything.

… maybe not.

By the time Hina and Sayo finished their orders and were ready to leave, the cafe had become less busy. Tsugumi walked them outside, wanting to chat a little bit more. It wasn’t very often she got to see both Hikawa sisters at the same time (though she wished she could see Sayo a little bit more.)

“How was everything?” Tsugumi asked once they reached outside.

“Boppin’!”

“Wonderful as always.”

The stark difference in their answers almost made Tsugumi laugh, her mouth bringing into a smile instead. “I’m glad to hear that. Come back soon, okay?” They nodded at her and Sayo moved to walk away—

And then, Hina spoke.

“Tsugu-chan, my sister’s amazing, isn’t she?”

Sayo froze. Tsugumi’s eyes went wide. Hina went right in for the kill.

“How did you two get so close? What do you like about onee-chan? She gets pretty stubborn about things, doesn’t she?” Hina grinned at her, like she half-expected Tsugumi to answer a certain way. Not that she could, when she was too flustered by Hina’s sudden questioning to even think about what to say—

“Yes,” she blurted out instead.

Sayo looked confused and maybe sort of offended, and even Hina, past her amusement, looked faintly confused too. She stepped closer to Tsugumi, smiling, and Tsugumi still wasn’t sure what sort of emotion Hina was trying to convey. “So you do agree that onee-chan is—oh!”

Before Hina could even finish, she was suddenly pulled away from Tsugumi, yelping. Sayo had grabbed Hina’s shirt and tugged her away. “Hina! You’re bothering Hazawa-san. Don’t you have practice with your band right now too? You’re going to be late.”

“Ah! Right!” Hina let out a sigh, obviously unhappy that she couldn’t spend any longer with her sister. “Okay, fine! I’ll see you later at home then, onee-chan! I’ll see you at school, Tsugu-chan! Bye!”

Sayo waited for Hina to round the corner before turning to Tsugumi. “I’m sorry about Hina bothering you like that. She’s always been like this.” She crossed her arms with a sigh. “Hina has always liked what I liked, so she’s always gone and done—”

Tsugumi didn’t think much about what Sayo said, until their exact implications came crashing into her like Tomoe pounding on a taiko drum. Which was, very loudly, and actually sounded more like cymbals banging together. Maybe it was Tomoe banging on some cymbals instead? Hadn’t she done something like that last week during practice, something about Moca daring her to for Ran’s inspiration—

Either way, rather than the slow creeping blushes Tsugumi tended to get when she was around Sayo, she felt her whole face _explode_. It felt like she was putting her face next to an oven. It felt like she _was_ an oven.

“A-ah?! Um, um! Sayo-san, what, er, what did you just say?”

Sayo, still muttering to herself about Hina, paused to squint at her. “I’m sorry? Did I just say something strange?”

Now, it was Tsugumi’s turn to look at her oddly. Had… had Sayo not realized what she said? But that couldn’t be, because Sayo wasn’t the type of person who blurted out things like that, or maybe she was, but Tsugumi didn’t really know that—w-well, she couldn’t exactly be too sure about that but—

“Once again, I apologize for the trouble Hina caused you, Hazawa-san, but I also need to go right now as well,” broke through Tsugumi’s rapid stream of thoughts, and when she blinked, Sayo was nodding at her, a small smile on her face. “I’ll… see you around.”

And without any other word, she walked away and left. Tsugumi stared at the spot where she’d been, blinking several times before slowly looking up, at the direction where Sayo had wandered off. She kept replaying that conversation over and over again—and then realized, too late, that Sayo had just left.

“Huh? I—wait, huh?!”

* * *

“What?! She just went and said something like that!? And then walked away from you after?!” Himari was nearly screeching as Tsugumi was telling her what had happened. Tsugumi waited for her ears to stop ringing before nodding. They were still ringing, either way.

It’d been several days since then, and Tsugumi needed… advice. Himari seemed like the best choice out of her group of friends. And, it seemed like a good opportunity to talk since Himari had come to the cafe and let out some steam about their friends.

… maybe Tomoe would have been better, but she wasn’t sure if Tomoe was going to go out and find Sayo and shake some sense into her.

“That girl!” Himari put her hands on her face. “How do you… how do you just! How?!” Her fingers opened, and Tsugumi could see Himari looking at her flatly. “Tsugu, you really do know how to pick them.”

Tsugumi frowned. What did _that_ have to mean? Sayo was… Sayo was… perfectly fine! Maybe she was distracted with her sister that day! Or she had something else on her mind! There were tons of reasons for Sayo doing… er, saying what she did that day.

… or maybe Tsugumi was thinking too much about it. She decided to say as much.

“Maybe I’m just thinking too much about it?” Tsugumi shrugged helplessly. “Sayo-san is… I don’t think she would really… I mean, not for someone like… me…”

Himari gasped. “Tsugu! What are you even saying?! You’re our Tsugu! Not liking you is like…” She stared at Tsugumi for a moment, “is like not liking puppies!”

Tsugumi blinked. “But Sayo-san does like dogs—”

“But what about puppies?!”

“... aren’t they the same thing?!”

“No!” Himari furiously shook her head and leaned forward across the table. Tsugumi leaned back. “Puppies are cute! I mean, dogs are cute too, but puppies are way cuter! And smaller! And, uh, cuter and smaller! Just like you, Tsugu!”

Tsugumi furrowed her brow, unsure of how to take that. “Thanks? I think—”

“So that’s why!” Himari didn’t even let her finish as she leaned back into her chair. “If she doesn’t like you, then it means she doesn’t like puppies.”

There were a lot of things Tsugumi wanted to say, but she couldn't decide where to start. First, how did the conversation veer into dogs? Second, this hadn’t really helped at all. Third…

Tsugumi settled for looking at Himari with the most confused expression she could make, since it was exactly how she felt in that moment. Not that it really did much because Himari looked like she wasn’t even paying attention to Tsugumi as she began to nod furiously to herself and think aloud.

“Anyway! If she doesn’t like you, then I’ll just have to make her!” There was a fire in Himari’s eyes, and Tsugumi was very afraid she was going to go running out right now to find Sayo and tackle her head on. The image was a little funny, and almost made Tsugumi giggle a little bit, but Himari was getting wild ideas, and for the sake of Himari’s reputation and Sayo’s embarrassment, Tsugumi needed to talk her out of her (bad) ideas.

“D-don’t do that! How would you even do that in the first place?” Tsugumi knew her friend, and Himari still thought Sayo was intimidating. But it was nice that she was willing to go so far for Tsugumi.

Himari stood up, stared hard at Tsugumi for a long time that Tsugumi started to feel uncomfortable with the intense scrutiny. Then, the mood completely changed as Himari stuck out her tongue and flashed her a V-sign with her fingers, said “With your swimsuit pictures!” and skipped away with a hum.

Tsugumi blinked. And again. And a third time, before she _finally_ understood what Himari had said. She bolted out of her chair after her friend and _this was going **too** far!_

“Wait, what do you even mean—you’re not— _Himari-chan!_ ”

* * *

In the end, it was Sayo who _somehow_ found them, Himari grinning almost as wildly as Tomoe while Tsugumi chased after her.

Rather, it was Himari who ran headfirst into Sayo as they came around a corner at the same time, but instead of falling down like Tsugumi had imagined earlier, Sayo managed to stand her ground and catch Himari in her arms.

Sayo blinked, and looked down at Himari, who looked up at the same time. They stared at each other.

Tsugumi finally caught up to them, and froze at the scene in front of her. Awkward didn’t even begin to describe what was in front of her eyes, but also Tsugumi hoped Himari hadn’t fainted on the spot in front of Sayo, because _that_ was going to be awkward.

“Are you alright, Uehara-san?” Sayo asked slowly when it looked like Himari hadn’t moved for a long time. But Himari suddenly shot upright, eyes wide with horror, and she leaped away from Sayo’s arms, hiding her face behind her hands.

“Oh no! I can’t do this! We can’t do this! I’m not ready! My heart already belongs to someone else—”

Sayo narrowed her eyes. “Excuse me?”

“—and who knows what Tsugu would do to me if she found me in the arms of her—”

“Himari-chan!”

Himari immediately looked up at her, a wide smile on her face. “Oh! Tsugu! You’re here!”

Then her face dropped. “ _Oh, Tsugu, you’re here,_ ” she whispered before frantically shaking her head. “I swear this isn’t what it looks like!”

“I saw the whole thing, Himari-chan.”

“Oh!” And Himari was already back to her bubbly self, a grin on her face. “Thanks for not misunderstanding like it would’ve been in all those manga!”

“I… I think you’re reading too much manga,” Tsugumi said. Himari stuck her tongue out at her. “Or watching too of your dramas.”

“Of course not!” Himari puffed up her cheeks even as she stuck her tongue out at Tsugumi some more.

Sayo looked like she wanted to say something, but thought otherwise, and instead looked over at Tsugumi, a brow raised. Except, before Tsugumi could apologize, Himari spun around to Sayo. “Sayo-san! While you’re here, wanna see a really cute picture?!” Himari’s phone was already in her hands before Tsugumi could even blink.

“Himari-chan, don’t you even dare—!” Tsugumi raced forward to grab Himari’s arm but it was already too late when Himari thrust her phone out at Sayo.

 _Oh no,_ Tsugumi thought, her whole face immediately burning hot. This was it. Her life was over. She covered her hands with her face, unable to even look at any of them. How could Himari just do this to her like that?!

“Isn’t this picture just the cutest?!” Himari gushed.

“Ah! Is that a dog?”

Tsugumi wrinkled her nose.

… dog?

Slowly, she took away her hands from her face, and though her face was still burning with embarrassment, she went to see what exactly it was that they were staring at.

It was a picture of—

“Oh! That was when we were at the park, and that big dog came over and ran into me, right?” Tsugumi smiled as she remembered. “It was so fluffy, and so nice!”

“Kept trying to lick your face too,” Himari added with a grin. Tsugumi laughed.

“So this was a dog you met, Hazawa-san?” Sayo asked. Tsugumi nodded, looking over at her, and froze.

Sayo was staring at the picture still, but her expression had softened. There was a tiny smile on her face, and she looked so soft, almost as soft as the dog’s fur that day.

Tsugumi felt her heart fluttering again.

“So,” Himari’s smile turned sly. Or, well, as sly as Himari could get, which was her eye twitching as she tried to wink. “Who’s cuter, the dog or Tsugu?”

Tsugumi’s face exploded with warmth again. “Hi-Hi-Himari-chan! Don’t just go—”

“Both.”

“—and ask something like—eh?” Tsugumi slowly looked over at Sayo, whose eyes were wide, and with equally red cheeks as Tsugumi. They stared at each other, Tsugumi not even daring to hope that she happened to hear what Sayo had said, and Sayo in disbelief that she even let something like that slip out.

“... excuse me, I left Hina in the oven,” Sayo said, and without any other word, spun on her heels to walk back around the same corner she had come from.

“Hold up!” Himari leaped forward, grabbing Sayo’s arm. Tsugumi was stunned, because who knew Himari could be _that_ brave? “You can’t leave yet! Tsugu still has to—” and Himari paused, squinting at her. “Wait, did you just say you left Hina-senpai in the oven?”

“Did I? I meant my guitar,” Sayo answered just as smoothly that it took both Himari and Tsugumi to even register exactly what it was that Sayo had even said. And, now, even Tsugumi was looking dubiously at her too.

Realizing none of her excuses actually even made sense for the other girls to let her go, Sayo sighed, and slowly turned back around to face them, her cheeks burning with shame at being caught. Still, when she looked over at Himari with a raised eyebrow and gestured to her arm, Himari quickly let go with a squeak. She laughed nervously under Sayo’s intense gaze.

“Uh! Uh!! Anyway! Tsugumi wanted to talk to you!” she all but shouted before tugging Tsugumi in front of her.

“Himari-chan!” Tsugumi looked at Himari like she’d been betrayed. It was close to it. They could have at least done this a different day!

“You… you did?” Sayo looked at her strangely. “You couldn’t message me about it?”

“Ah! Um, no, this is, um, I, er, I mean, this is…” Being put on the spot so suddenly made Tsugumi’s head spin. She wanted to tell Sayo to wait while she ran away and gathered her nerves, but she doubted that would look good, and it would only add to Sayo’s confusion. But she couldn’t… she couldn’t just… go and blurt out what she wanted to say.

Unluckily, or luckily really, they were interrupted.

“Hey!? What’s going on here?!”

Somehow, _somehow,_ Tomoe came running out of nowhere, with Ako even trailing behind her. Tsugumi looked over at Himari, who mouthed _I messaged her,_ while pointing to her phone, and Tsugumi wondered when Himari even found the time to do that without either of them noticing.

… or where Tomoe even was to come as fast as she did.

“Sayo-san!” Ako cried out as she waved cheerfully to her bandmate. Sayo nodded at her but also made a little wave as well.

“Uh, so.” Tomoe looked at everyone, scratching the back of her neck. “Himari said there was some trouble here and she needed help right away so I came running and there’s—mmmffpph?!”

Himari shushed her, slapping a hand over Tomoe’s mouth. “Tomoe! Don’t say it like that!”

Tomoe started protesting, but everything was muffled behind Himari’s hand, and when it looked like no one could understand her, she stopped to glower at Himari instead. She said something, but it was still too muffled for anyone to make out.

“Onee-chan asked if you could take your hand off, by the way,” Ako said. Maybe sibling telepathy _was_ real, Tsugumi was beginning to think.

“Oh.” Himari hesitantly took her hand off and looked at it with a grimace. Tsugumi was already reaching into her pocket and holding out a handkerchief, which Himari took gratefully. Tomoe looked none too amused with the whole exchange.

“Well?” Tomoe crossed her arms, still glowering at Himari. “Did I come here for no reason?”

“Um!” Himari frantically looked between them save for Sayo, and _Ako_ seemed to have gotten the idea what was going on because she started waving her hands around. Himari's frantic glances turned into confusion and she looked over at Tomoe for help, who only shrugged helplessly. Tsugumi didn’t even understand what was happening anymore.

Except when she looked over at Sayo, she found the other girl had narrowed her eyes and began to shake her head, which… did nothing but make Ako’s gestures even more wild as she began to nod her head and with her eyes, pointed none too subtly at Tsugumi. But Ako quickly ran over to Sayo and pulled her away a bit from the others, trying to whisper to her.

“Udagawa-san,” Sayo said, her voice low, “—told you, no!”

“C’mon! What’s the worst that can happen!” Ako loudly whispered back. Sayo’s eyes seemed to narrow even more but she said nothing.

“Psst, Tomoe!” Himari nudged Tomoe and winked at her.

Tomoe squinted back. “Something wrong with your eye?”

“No! _Tomoe!_ ” Himari gestured between Sayo and Tsugumi. Tomoe looked at her blankly. Himari put her hands on her face, sighing loudly. _Then_ , it was like a light bulb went off in Tomoe’s head because she began to nod slowly.

“Ah, oh, ohhhh, okay. I got it. I see now,” she said, seemingly enlightened. She reached out to slap Tsugumi on the back and gave her a thumbs-up sign, and although Tsugumi knew it was supposed to be encouraging, it made her feel even more embarrassed instead.

But, she had to get this out of the way. Himari had given her this opportunity, even if it’d been a total accident. So, at least for the sake of her friends who were trying to help her out, she would… try. Even if all she wanted to do was immediately turn around and run away too, she would try.

Try what, she didn't think too far about that part, but she was going to try!

“Ako! Let’s get going! We’re—” and Tomoe froze when both Sayo and Ako turned to look at her. She was never good with coming up with excuses when put on the spot. “We’re, uh. Interrupting—I mean! Going. Somewhere.” Tomoe struggled to come up with something more concrete than that before shouting, “Bread! Yamabuki Bakery! Bye!” and grabbed Himari’s arm, dragging her away.

“W-wait! Hold up, Tomoe! Your hand hurts—wait, are we really going to the bakery?! I wanted to hide and watch—”

“Bread? But Saya-chan’s not working today—ah! Onee-chan! Wait up for me!” Ako spun around to run after her sister, waving bye. “Bye Sayo-san! Tsugu-chin!” And she was mouthing something and holding out her fingers, switching back and forth between holding up one and two fingers. Tsugumi didn’t understand what she was trying to do, but when glanced over at Sayo, she saw Sayo making faces at her and crossing her fingers into a X, communicating in whatever way they were doing.

Who knew Sayo and Ako actually got along nicely? It was cute.

… and what wasn’t so cute was how she and Sayo were left alone now.

Awkward silence passed between them before Sayo finally spoke. “I believe Uehara-san mentioned that you had to talk to me earlier?”

“Er, right, uh, yes.” Tsugumi saw the concern on Sayo’s face but she quickly shook her head. “Do you, er, mind if we go somewhere else to talk? Standing in the middle of the sidewalk, is, um…”

“Yes, of course. There’s a park nearby,” Sayo said, gesturing off in a direction. “We can go there.” Tsugumi quickly nodded, not trusting herself to stammer nervously even more, and let Sayo lead the way.

* * *

The park was nice. The flowers were nice. The kids playing around were nice. The sun setting and casting a dark orange glow over everything was nice.

It also made Sayo look nice. She looked nice in… the afterglow.

… too bad Tsugumi wasn’t exactly in the best mood to enjoy her awful joke, instead trying to focus very hard on not looking at Sayo. For the entire walk to the park, and through it to find a relatively quiet spot, Tsugumi had been trying to gather her courage.

 _For Himari-chan and Tomoe-chan, who gave me this opportunity!_ she kept telling herself. And for herself too! But also because it was _her_ turn to answer Sayo.

… not that Sayo had _actually_ said anything outright, but Tsugumi felt like she needed to say something. It didn’t feel right, not with the way Tsugumi had allowed herself to hope. She _needed_ to do this, for her own closure too.

Now, they were sitting down on a bench, next to each other. Not touching, because they weren’t close for _that_ yet but it was still—

She was thinking too much about this.

“—you said you had something to talk to me about?” Sayo asked.

Tsugumi shot upright, nearly yelping out of surprise. Sayo looked at her strangely, and Tsugumi had to force a nervous smile out, not that Sayo seemed very convinced.

“I, er, I guess, uh, I have something to tell you,” Tsugumi started, wishing she wasn’t tripping over her words. She felt so fluttery, and she was sure her hands were clammy and sweaty, and it felt so warm that she thought maybe Sayo could even see the sweat rolling down her face.

But Tsugumi had already started, and if there was only one direction she knew how to go in, it was forward.

Tsugumi tried to steady herself as best as she could, and stared straight into Sayo’s eyes. Feeling like all of her emotions were going to burst out of her, she nearly shouted, “I like you too, Sayo-san!”

“... I’m sorry?” Sayo blinked at her. Then, it seemed like what Tsugumi had said _finally_ started to sink in, and she started to gape. Tsugumi wanted to gape back but she ducked her head, unable to look at Sayo any longer, at least not with her embarrassment overwhelming her.

“... wait, ‘too’?” Sayo frowned at her. “You… you knew I had… feelings for you? But I… I never said…” She looked away, her expression turning cross now. “It must have been someone from Roselia—”

“N-no! No!” Tsugumi frantically waved her hands before Sayo got the chance to storm off, which Tsugumi knew she’d inevitably would. Sayo had a one track mind like that, rushing off to right any immediate wrongs.

… which was exactly _why_ they were in this situation in the first place.

But it was that straightforwardness of Sayo that Tsugumi admired.

… not that this was a time to compliment Sayo (not that Tsugumi minded), but she had a misunderstanding to fix.

“Do you remember that one day you and Hina-senpai were both at the cafe and Hina-senpai was asking me so many questions? And then you, er, just… um, said ‘Hina has always liked what I liked!’ And, so, um! I, er, kind of took it to mean that… you liked me too?” Tsugumi’s voice ended in an embarrassingly high pitched squeak near the end. It was already embarrassing repeating this back to Sayo?! And how did Sayo not remember saying something like that?!

Except, as Tsugumi saw the realization dawn across Sayo’s face, maybe she _was_ remembering it right now.

Rather than confirm or deny, Sayo only continued to stare blankly at her. Then, they narrowed into what Tsugumi liked to call Sayo’s contemplative glare, the one where it looked like she was glaring really hard at something but was really deep in thought. Tsugumi easily figured that habit out, because Ran was the same way.

“... now I realize my words could have been taken that way,” was all Sayo finally said, faintly mortified.

They sat in a silence so awkward that even Himari couldn’t come and make things worse. Maybe. Tsugumi felt the urge to fidget where she sat, to ask Sayo for any sort of clarification to her words, but her throat felt too dry to even speak. She couldn’t even open her mouth, so nervous that she was.

And Sayo! Was Sayo feeling the same way? Was she feeling the same things Tsugumi did? Did she actually _like_ Tsugumi in the way she was hoping, or did feelings mean something else to Sayo Hikawa? Like, feelings for a, er, friend?

Or was Tsugumi thinking too much about this again? The doubts were starting to spring into her mind—

“I… allow me to do this properly, then,” Sayo spoke up suddenly, and Tsugumi nearly jumped out of her seat. Instead, as if by a magnetic pull, Tsugumi looked up to Sayo, her eyes glued to hers.

Sayo took a deep breath, looked away for a bit before meeting her gaze again. “Hazawa-san, I… yes, I do like you, as well. I...” she looked as if she was struggling to speak. Tsugumi could only hold her breath, unable to believe what she was hearing. “I believe we have the same feelings for each other.”

“... oh.” Tsugumi hadn’t _meant_ to say that, but it slipped out. Sayo blinked at her, clearly surprised by her… less than well-worded reply. Not that Tsugumi could really think of anything else to say.

“... ah,” Sayo answered back with a hesitant nod, like this was what they were going to be doing now. Tsugumi wanted to laugh, except she was sure that if she did right now, she’d sound like she was crying instead. Maybe that was what she really wanted to do. Laugh, and cry at the same time.

A thick, overwhelming feeling was rising in Tsugumi, and she felt like she was ready to burst. Her lips kept twitching, like she was trying so hard not to smile, and she wasn’t really sure why she was trying to fight against it. This… this was...

“We like each other, Sayo-san,” Tsugumi mumbled, partly out of _something_ to say. The silence was starting to feel a little too uncomfortable for her, and she felt so _full_ of… _something_ that she felt like she needed to… needed to… speak. Say something. Anything.

“We do,” Sayo agreed, no doubt feeling the same way as Tsugumi did. Except the both of them shuffled around with the silence a bit longer before Sayo decided to say something else. “I’m… afraid I don’t know where we go from here,” she admitted in a quiet voice. If Tsugumi wanted to be honest, it was actually a little cute how formal Sayo was still trying to be with everything. “I planned… or, I mean… I hadn’t planned on this, actually…”

“... eh?” Hadn’t… planned for what? Hadn’t planned for… this? Sayo hadn’t been planning on telling her? Tsugumi wanted to ask, but Sayo would answer all her questions in the next moment.

“The thought that you could really return _my_ feelings… it… it never occurred to me that… could happen,” Sayo mumbled.

… ah.

To think, Sayo could feel the same things she did…

But that maybe was why they were similar, right?

Feeling a calm wash over her, which was strange given that she felt like she was going to burst instead, Tsugumi let a gentle smile come over her face. She wanted to let Sayo know that she knew, that she felt the same, that she _understood._

“I’m… a very serious person, I know this, and I can say harsh things, and everything I can do, Hina can always do better, and I’m always clueless when I don’t always have a routine or a recipe to follow, and—” Sayo was rambling now. She stopped talking, though, her breath hitching when she felt Tsugumi laying a hand on top of her own.

“But I like all those things about you, Sayo-san. I understand, too! And I feel the same way! That you can like… someone so plain and average like _me_... it… I can’t wrap my mind around it still! But, that’s why...” Tsugumi shyly pressed her fingers together as she met Sayo’s eyes, “I like you.”

“... oh,” was all Sayo said afterward.

… maybe they were both really bad at this.

Then, Tsugumi felt it.

Underneath her hand, she felt Sayo slowly, hesitantly, shyly, pushing her fingers through Tsugumi’s. They threaded together, and Tsugumi could feel all the calluses on Sayo’s fingers, proof of all the practice and effort that she put into playing her guitar, into trying to find her own sound. It was all…

Incredible.

“... I’m sorry, I don’t know where we go from here,” Sayo said. She seemed… embarrassed, admitting she didn’t know what to do. Tsugumi wouldn’t have expected that from Sayo, but Sayo had always been honest about these things with her. It was another part of Sayo that she liked.

“I don't know either, but I think that's what we're supposed to figure out together?” She offered a shy smile to Sayo, who still looked like she couldn’t decide how to feel about this moment. “Is that fine with you?”

“I… I think that’s fine with me,” Sayo finally said, offering her own smile, and Tsugumi thought, once again, that Sayo really was beautiful in the afterglow.

* * *

“You really just told her like that?!” Ako couldn’t even _believe_ it. Sayo narrowed her eyes.

“You make it sound like I set it up that way. It hadn’t meant to come out,” she muttered. Ako was still staring at her like she’d gone and did something like… smash her guitar. Okay, Sayo would _never_ , ever do that, but the comparison was close enough. Almost.

Ako’s face fell, and Sayo was immediately alarmed. “Udagawa-san—”

“All that hard work coming up with those phrases! Ako stayed up asking Rinrin to help me out with everything! Ako had to change so many things because Sayo-san doesn’t play online games! So many things! And Ako thought everything was _cool_!”

Sayo slowly slid back into impassiveness. And unamusement. Then, she squinted at Ako. “I never even asked for your advice in the first place, Udagawa-san.”

“But it helped!”

“Not really?”

“Sayo-san! You could at least agree with me! Ako tried so hard to come up with things you could understand!”

Sayo didn’t even want to answer, settling with giving Ako the look of disapproval and unamusement. Already used to it, Ako continued to bemoan her woes of scrapping so many cool phrases. Sayo sighed, and stepped forward.

Ako froze when she felt a hand on her head. It was Sayo, and now she was awkwardly patting her head like she wasn’t sure what to do with her hand after she went and put it on top of Ako’s head. “Er? Sayo-san?” Did someone take over Sayo’s mind!? Ako needed to do an exorcism—not an exorcism, a dark ritual—wait, no, wouldn’t that have made things worse—Rinrin! She needed Rinrin—

“You were only trying to help,” Sayo said, and Ako slowly looked up to see Sayo offering that half-smile she often made. “Even if you didn’t need to, I appreciated it, so thank you.”

Ako stared at her. Even as Sayo took her hand back and awkwardly coughed into her hand and pretended like she hadn’t just reached out to pat Ako on the head, Ako still continued staring. When Ako did finally do something else, it was to crack the biggest grin she could make.

“Whoa! That was so nice, Sayo-san! Can you do it again?!”

“... when you don’t mess up your cues during our lives.”

“Ack! That was a low blow, Sayo-san!”


End file.
